Time is of the Element
by Akemi Idane
Summary: Meet Akemi. A kind of strange girl with lime green hair who lives with Kakashi. But sometimes, it seems like there's a bit more than that to her story, and the sudden appearance of her mother isn't helping...
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Guess what? I don't own Naruto SHOCKER I do, however, own Akemi. I also am the current possessor of Kaara, who my friend made up. No she will not end up with Gaara because their names are similar. That was an accident.

Chapter 1

"HEY! Akemi! Get your ass out of bed!"

Akemi sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked at the clock. It read 5:30 am.

_Dammit_, she thought to herself, _I overslept_.

She threw on some outfit or another, ran a comb through her lime green hair, and ran for the kitchen. Kakashi was sitting there, mask off, but head buried in a book, although it looked like his mind was somewhere else.

"Hi dad, bye dad" Akemi said, rushing past. Her dad's head turned and he merely stared after her as she ran into the courtyard, leaped the fence, and ran down the street.

Akemi rapped on Shikamaru's window three times, shivering from the cold. _I should've brought a jacket_, she thought to herself as she waited for him, then decided to see what she was wearing anyway. She looked down and smiled at her own stupidity. It was a green mini dress and the sleeves. Shikamaru opened his window, and just like he had been expecting her, said, "You're late, Akemi"

"Thirty minutes and thirty five seconds." Akemi said in reply

"Well then I have to forgive you don't I?" Shikamaru smiled and kissed her good morning. He just worked like that, only forgiving lateness if she knew the exact amount of time that she was late. It was a talent of hers, after all.

"Well do I have to start writing my will now, or is later ok?" Shikamaru was referring to the fact that the one day Akemi chose (or not) to be late, they were going to go meet Temari and return her fan. Akemi double checked that it was over her shoulder, and then remembered something.

"Uh…now might be good. Gaara's coming today."

"Aw dammit. I only thought we were going to be half dead before."

"Oh come on, he wouldn't kill you while I was there."

"Oh really?" Shikamaru was turned around, with an expression on his face that most people can't describe.

"Yes really, because he'd know I'd kill him first. Anyway, we'd better get going." Akemi said, pulling Shikamaru along by the hand.

Temari and Gaara

"And I once again repeat, WHY are we here?" Gaara was staring at Temari with this impatient look that would make most normal people giggle.

"She's retuning the fan."

"The WHAT?" Gaara was suddenly alert; sort of alarmed that Temari would just hand out her greatest weapon to strangers.

Then the pair walked in, and Gaara took a deep breath of relief on seeing that Temari's fan was completely unharmed.

"Oh come on Gaara, did you really think that I was going to kill it?" Akemi was staring at Gaara with a smile on her face. Gaara, finally focusing on the real world, returned her smiling look with a stone-cold one of his own. He turned to Temari and made a motion saying that they should get going. Akemi tossed over the fan, and kind of laughed that Gaara had forgotten it in his own thoughts. Gaara sent dagger eyes, and Akemi stuck out her tongue, stating in her own way that she wasn't afraid of him.

"Well, we've got to get back to the sand village, so I'll see you later right?" Temari made a move towards the exit. Akemi nodded, as if to say, _no duh Sherlock_, and then followed Shikamaru out the exit. Gaara seemed to nod to someone that Akemi couldn't see, and it caught her attention, but she didn't look into his mind like she would have for anyone else. There were some limits to her ego.

"What's with Gaara?" Shikamaru wondered out loud as Akemi walked up behind him. He had obviously gotten out of there as soon as possible.

"Oh, he's just being himself." Akemi thought to herself about how his lack of the ability to sleep must have taken a toll on his mood.

"Well, I have to be getting back, I guess" Shikamaru was in the same tone of wonderment, forgetting to change his voice from the question he asked earlier. He turned around and pulled Akemi into a kiss, stayed there for what felt like eternity but was really only a few minutes, and then turned to go home.

Akemi reached up and grabbed him on the shoulder, then whispered into his ear, "Don't lose yourself, ok? Never forget that I love you."

By the time he had turned around, she was gone, racing down the back alleyways to get to Kaara's house.

Kaara

Kaara awoke to the sound of her alarm screaming. She rolled over and whacked the floor where her alarm used to be until she realized that she had no alarm anymore. It was Naruto at the window.

"Shuddup would'ya?" She yelled outside. For once, he stopped, but flung himself in the formerly closed window.

"ComonComonComonComonComon!!" he spazzed, twitching every few seconds. "You're finding out who you're with today, remember?!"

"Ok, I have two questions for you Naruto." Kaara calmly responded, "One, who gave you sugar? And two, where the hell did they get it?"

As if to answer her questions, Akemi dropped a chocolate bar over the railing and Naruto quickly jumped on it. Akemi used this convenient foot stool to climb over, and then went to the closet and starting throwing clothes at Kaara.

"Why, _mmph_, are you, _mmph_, up so, _mmph_, early?" Kaara attempted to say, while being bombarded by clothes.

"Hey," Akemi said to the mirror in the closet, "I'm up LATE. It's spazzy boy here who's up early. I had to give him the chocolate to get him out of bed and to your window."

_So that's where the chocolate came from_, Kaara thought to herself. She made her choice from the clothes thrown at her, and put on a black strapless top and her black-and-red striped skirt. She tugged on her combat boots and brushed her black hair, then put on eyeliner.

"Wow." Akemi said, watching the eyeliner go on. "It seems sorta crazy that all I did was put on clothes and brushed my hair and you've taken about a half an hour to get everything on."

"You just shuddup ok?" Kaara replied, finishing the eyeliner. "We have to get going anyway"


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter is written in honor of chapter 413, in which Sasuke gets seriously hurt for the first time. Ever. Don't believe me? Look at this.

**WARNING**: **This link takes you to one of the pages from the most recent Naruto chapter ****IN JAPAN**** as far as I know. If you don't want anything spoiled, then don't look. I warned you. Also, this might be a free manga site, but I do buy the books, so don't get all hissy at me for using it. Thank you.**

/Naruto/413/14/

Let me know if the link doesn't work. I'll have a photobucket soon with only the injured Sasuke in it, but for now, this'll have to do.

Regardless, enjoy the story!!

+--+--+

Chapter 2

Kaara and Akemi were sitting in the waiting room for the Hokage's office, twiddling their thumbs. They had run out of things to talk about a while ago, so they had dived into the realm of their own thoughts and not surfaced. Someone that neither of them recognized came out and told them it was their turn. Akemi's head jerked up and she stood, automatically making strides towards the office. Kaara wasn't far behind, and she caught up to Akemi's determined pace with a little difficulty.

"Somebody's a little anxious?" Kaara had one eyebrow raised.

"Shush" Akemi looked completely serious about what she was going to say next. "I'm focusing on not being on a team with Emopussy."

Kaara rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything else. They proceeded up the rest of the stairs in silence, and didn't say anything when they entered the office either. They were greeted with a skeptical look from the Hokage, who wasn't accustomed to this eerie silence.

"Hello." He said, not showing his emotion in his voice.

"Hey." Akemi took her usual informal tone when talking to anyone. Kaara gave her a look, but the Hokage didn't notice. He shuffled some papers and stuck them in a drawer, then addressed Kaara and Akemi again.

"I'm under the impression that neither of you have a team as of yet?"

"That would be right." A small edge of regret crept into Kaara's voice, and Akemi gave her a look. It was the small details that revealed the most about a person.

"Okay then." The Hokage folded his hands and addressed Akemi in particular. "I'll put you in the group with Hatake Kakashi."

Akemi groaned and leaned back in her chair. "My dad. You have got to be fucking kidding me."

On the other hand, Kaara was too elated to realize that Akemi had sworn in front of the Hokage. She was in this with Akemi, and from what she knew, Naruto. The Hokage dismissed them without much thought. This time, Kaara was the first one to stand up, and had to nearly drag Akemi out of the office and down the stairs.

Despite how long it took her to stand, Akemi was the first one to step outside. Her dad and Naruto were the only 2 people she saw, and she knew that Sakura was in her group as well, but she was nowhere to be seen. She seemed to remember one other guy being in the group though……

"Hey. You awake?" Naruto was up in her face, probably unaware that she was deep in thought. He was like a plant, not really picking up on waves until they're long gone. Or was it that he had the intelligence of a plant? Plants weren't so easily bribed by sugar though… Kaara walked by, smacking Naruto in the head and then going off in search of someone. Akemi followed her, wondering where she was going. All of a sudden, Shikamaru jumped on her, and they both tumbled to the ground.

"Hey" he whispered, "I'm trying to follow your friend here, so be shush."

Akemi stared for a little, confused, then came to her senses and asked him, "Uh…why are you following her anyway? Does she have something of yours?"

"I dunno really, just cause I can follow someone. You?"

"I'm trying to see if she'll lead me to Emopussy." Akemi stood up and brushed herself off.

"Wow, that's…almost creepy." Shikamaru had one eyebrow raised, but he disappeared again to follow Kaara without another word.

"She so has something of his." Akemi said to nobody in particular, as she made her way back to the congregation. Somebody's black hair stuck out (quite literally) from the crowd, and she altered her path a little to stalk it.

Sasuke came to rest upon someone's balcony, and Akemi took the opportunity to sneak up behind him and whisper something to herself. Her middle finger elongated and became strikingly steel like, and she stuck it through his arm.

"PERSON KABOB!!" The stab was made so cleanly that not much blood came out, but one dollop landed on Kaara's dark head, bobbing below as she looked for…something. Sasuke's arm was raised but frozen, and his expression borderlined scared and really, really mad. She looked up and noted Sasuke's expression and Akemi's wicked smile, and she knew how this had gone down.

"Akemi! Stop injuring people!" She yelled. Kaara had an obvious smile on her face, but her tone was slightly accusatory.

Akemi returned Kaara's smile with a wicked one of her own, speaking in an unnecessarily high voice, "But it's from my new book! You know, injuring people for fun and profit?!"

"Where's the profit?" Kaara was climbing up the stairs now, as was clear from the echo. Which is when Akemi realized that Kaara had the key to wherever they were. Also, it had some awful short stairs. Or maybe Kaara had gotten faster since they last raced. She was up here already.

"My mood, it improves." She couldn't think of something witty to say right off the bat, so she went for the psychopath route.

"But I thought that was the fun part." Kaara gave Akemi a skeptical look.

"No, the fun part is where I don't get interrupted and can push him off of the balcony." Akemi said, getting her thoughts together. Sasuke looked purely pissed now, and he grabbed the back of Akemi's dress and flipped her over his shoulder, holding her over the edge. Akemi just smiled and kicked her heel into the rotting wooden slates of the fence, then used the leverage to pull her other foot over the bar and behind Sasuke, kicking him to the ground. It wasn't until Akemi landed, once again on the balcony, that Kaara realized that Sasuke's arm was now bleeding profusely, although the sudden jerk hadn't seemed to hurt it any.

"Ohmigod!" Kaara's sudden alertness confused even herself, but she continued. "You're bleeding!! Like, badly!" Her tone actually was just about accurate. The blood was pulsing out of Sasuke's arm every time his heart beat, and it was pooling on the ground in a slightly macabre fashion.

"No shit." Sasuke stared at Kaara strangely, but clasped his hand over his arm. Kaara ran inside to get some bandages, and Akemi just plopped herself on the balcony, swing her booted feet beneath her.

_That was a good one!_ An all-too familiar voice said in her head. The physical Akemi put her head in her hands. _Oh, fine. You just ignore me or something. _The voice continued into a mumble. _Bitch holds a grudge…_Akemi's head sprung up, and her eyes were livid. _Oh would you just shut up?_, the voice said, not taking much offence at Akemi's emotion.

_Um, would you?_ Akemi said inside her own head, _I don't need your shit now._

_Hey, I left you alone all day!_, Kainda almost sounded hurt. But then again, she was kind of a psychopath (okay, really a psychopath) so she didn't have emotions, right?

_I can hear all your thoughts you know_. Yup, no emotions what-so-ever.

"Akemi!" A voice outside her head captured Akemi's attention, and she leaned over the edge backwards. Shikamaru was below, and he threw up a pouch, which Akemi caught carefully with her teeth. She curled back up and brushed her hair off her face, then opened up the embroidered pouch. Kaara was bandaging Sasuke's arm, brow furrowed despite the fact that the wound wasn't bleeding much anymore. One fingernail is only so big. Staring into the bag, Akemi was greeted with two slips of paper, one addressed to Kaara and one addressed to Akemi.

"Hey Kaara." Akemi addressed her friend. "Lookie here." She let the letter sail through the air, and it flipped around a few times before hitting Kaara in the face. Kaara pulled the paper off her face and continued to rip the seal off, opening the sheet.

"Whoah. Didn't see that coming." Kaara said, and Akemi ripped hers open as well. She read the contents, and kind of smirked.

"Seems like we're just that awesome." Akemi said just as Shikamaru climbed the stairs, accompanied by Naruto, who was now finally almost chill.

"Eh?" Naruto said, looking very confused. "How'd you get up here? And why's Sasuke's arm all bloody?"

Shikamaru ignored Naruto, immediately heading for Akemi's letter, which he apparently hadn't read yet. Kaara supplemented a response.

"Akemi stabbed Sasuke's arm, so that's why that's all bandaged and nasty and stuff. But I have the key to your house."

"Actually." Sasuke said, interrupting her, "Your door was open."

"Oh. Well then." Naruto said, joining the congregation of people on the balcony, "Why'd you come up here?"

"Trying to get away from…people." Sasuke said, and everyone knew who he meant. "But it was kinda out of the frying pan into the fire."

"You got that right, Emopussy." Akemi interjected.

"So wait…" Shikamaru spoke for the first time. "What did the papers say?"

"Didn't you read it?" Akemi seemed confused that Shikamaru could be confused. By well…anything.

"I might have read it, but I don't believe it." Shikamaru paused for a second. "Okay, maybe I can believe you, but Kaara…"

"Oh!" Kaara whacked her chest and her mouth opened in an expression of mock hurt. "Am I just not cool enough for you or something? Your girlfriend's just that much more amazing than me?"

"Not what I meant…but seriously." Shikamaru was talking again. "You've only been involved in this for what…an hour? Tops? You haven't even done anything yet!"

Akemi smiled, and Naruto looked confused again. "Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait." He said, trying to clarify something. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Akemi didn't seem to stop smiling even when she spoke. "We're headed to the chunin exams tomorrow."

Naruto's expression was one of pure shock. His mouth fumbled attempting to create anything resembling a word, and everyone who didn't already know was stone silent. If it weren't for the bustle of the street below, time could have stopped and nobody would have known.

"Anyway." Kaara broke the silence. "I need to get out of here before Sakura realizes I'm gone. This'll be the first place she looks."

"Mmkay, you're coming to my house." Akemi stated it like a fact, and dropped down from the second floor to the ground, while Kaara opted for the stairs. They headed off to Akemi's house, kind of poking at each other.

"Uumm…Sasuke? You better run." Shikamaru was the next one to speak, and he pointed to the duo of pink and blonde hair that was obviously headed for the building.

"Aw crap." Sasuke took off, and Shikamaru leaped off the building, disappearing into a sea of hair, and Naruto was left alone, not quite aware of everything that just happened.


	3. Chapter 3

"Kiba

I was sick when I wrote this, so it might not be very good. I dunno.

Thanks to the people who add this to their favorites/subscribe!

(I still don't know if those two are the same thing or not…XD)

Enjoy!

+--+--+

Chapter 3

Akemi and Kaara were lounging about Akemi's room, flipping through a few things but mainly focused on being bored as possible without dying.

"It's not working!" Kaara all of a sudden stood and shouted. "Trying to be bored in entertaining, god dammit!"

Akemi burst into laughter, which she had been holding back for a while, and rolled on the bed from her chair, mock punching Kaara. "Hey!" She managed to rebut, "You broke my concentration." Kaara joined her in the laughter, and they cut off about the same time. They laid there for a while, then rolled over, almost simultaneously, and stood up. At about this time, Kiba burst through Akemi's window, shattering the glass. He was greeted by some awkward stares, and nobody said anything while their faces contorted into various degrees of disbelief.

"Hi. Wrong window." Kiba's statement of the obvious didn't help, although it broke the silence.

"Noted. What do you need?" Akemi was still slightly in shock. People don't normally go breaking through her window.

"Your dad. He's here?"

"Nope."

"Shit. Probably should have gone to the Hokage…but that doesn't really make sense either when I think about it…"

"What's going on?" Kaara didn't fully grasp the situation, and Akemi was relieved she had asked the question.

"A girl I know went missing, and she doesn't exactly live in a village." Kiba turned his head to face Kaara, who was on the other side of him, then gave up and sat up on Akemi's bed.

"Oh. Well crap." Akemi and Kaara said at almost the same time.

"I'll just go look for her myself."

"Um…good luck?" Akemi was rather confused, but Kiba left through the broken window without another comment. "He's really crazy about whoever it was."

"Yeah." Kaara sighed and flopped down onto the bed. "I want a guy who'd do that for me."

"Don't we all?"

Kaara looked at Akemi with a angry look on her face. "You've got everything you need!"

Akemi joined Kaara on the bed. "Correction. I think if I went missing, you and Shika would be the only ones who noticed."

"Why?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but Shika would run and find me."

"Eh, I'd probably do the same thing. What about Sasuke?"

"Emopussy would just thank his lucky stars I finally got out of his life."

"And…you're right. As usual." Kaara sighed again, then propped herself on her elbow. "Stop being right all the time!"

"Um…I'll try?"

The hours continued to fly by, as Akemi and Kaara continuously found some different way to entertain themselves, including, once, Akemi dressing up as Sasuke and pretending to stab herself with a stage knife, which Kaara didn't find that entertaining, but Akemi enjoyed. They ended up outside sparring as the sun descended behind the hills. They were both getting tired, but nobody was seriously hurt.

"You has…" Akemi took a deep breath, "gotten better."

"Well, you has…" Kaara was breathing hard as well, "good grammar."

Akemi's breathy imitation of a laugh was almost creepy, but they went for each other again, colliding in the middle with a clink of metal hitting metal. They both skid through the grass to opposite corners of the clearing. Akemi's fingernails were about a foot long and metal-looking, and Kaara had weapons at the ready. They stared at each other for a while, then switched focus. Akemi's fingernails retracted, and Kaara whipped her weapons away.

Akemi made the first move going back to Nin- and Gen-jutsu with a furious almost-yell. "Devil Cry, vampire's scream!" The sound erupting from her throat made some visible marks in the trees, but Kaara dodged it in time, and avoided getting hurt at all, although the ends of her shirt were a little frayed.

She smiled and made her move. "Katon: Housenka!" The multiple spurts of fire following homed in on Akemi, but she managed to avoid them all, although one of them set the grass on fire.

"Good work." Akemi's mock clapping was followed by a small water-creation jutsu, which doused the still small flame without much problem. Kaara flopped down on the ground and waved her hand in the air like she was holding a surrender flag.

"My thoughts exactly." Akemi fell on the ground with a gentle pat, and they lay like that for a while, not saying anything while they waited for their breathing to return to normal. After about ten minutes, Kaara sat up all of a sudden.

"Whaa?" Akemi had almost dozed off, and Kaara's sudden alertness surprised her. When Kaara pointed off into the distance, Akemi rolled over and propped up on her elbows, perking her ears. A rustling was coming from the bushes, something that could be easily dismissed by wind. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"No, no, it's something alright." Kaara said, and Akemi raised an eyebrow, then stood up. She saw what Kaara meant. There was the top of a head, bobbing along in a non-chakra-influenced pace. They were pretty far from the village.

"I got it." Akemi moved along a lot faster than this girl did, and caught her at a standstill. She was leaning against a tree, the back of her head turned to Akemi. Akemi made a move towards her, but a branch snapped underneath her feet, and she cursed her won stupidity.

"Kiba?" The girl's automatic reaction whipped her head towards Akemi, and Akemi almost cowered back into the bush, if it wasn't for her dead-set will not to look like a dumbshit. The girl had light purple eyes, and not the kind of purple where it was almost-blue-but-just-a-bit-darker-than-that purple. This was a full purple, well, more lavender, but it scared Akemi, and she wasn't sure why. Everything about the rest of her was normal, from the brown color of her hair to her dress, which looked kind of like a short kimono.

"Nope." The answer seemed to increase the girl's anxiety.

"From the sound?"

"I'm offended." Akemi stood with a strange look on her face. "Well then. You're that girl that Kiba was looking for."

"How do you know?" The girl seemed alarmed.

"He burst through my window. Like, the glass is all over my floor now burst through my window."

"Oh no…" she bit her knuckle. "He's gonna kill me."

"Look, before he kills you, what's your name?"

"Konjaku, you?" She seemed to trust Akemi a little more, but was obviously still skeptical.

"Akemi. Hatake Akemi."

"That's why Kiba came to your house."

"Yeah. Look, I have to get back to Kaara, so…I'll see you around."

"Erm…I guess."

"Alright." Akemi picked up the meaning to her words. "I'm not here to stop you."

"Huh?" Oh crap, this girl was stupid. She didn't even realize what she just gave away. She would so get caught if this continued.

"You sounded like you were leaving."

"How'd you figure that out?" Crap.

"Wow…you're a dipshit, no offence." Akemi blinked a few times and sighed. "It's kind of obvious by how you said 'I guess' that you weren't going to see me again for a while, if ever."

"That could just be because I don't live in the village."

"You were too unsure for it to be just that."

"Oh well fine. You're going to try and stop me?"

"No, I already said that I'm not here to stop you." God, this girl was stupid.

"AKEMI!!" Kaara yelled from the field, "You've been there for a while! Is that Shikamaru or something?!"

"Nope!" Akemi yelled back. "Well, bye." She began her navigation through the trees again, almost stepping on a few things.

"Yeah." The girl began running again, this time faster.

"Hey!" Kaara yelled when Akemi got back to the clearing. "What was that?" Her tone returned to normal as Akemi walked closer.

"Nothing much."

"Oh, it was something, all right." Kaara was slightly irritated at Akemi's withholding of information.

"Seriously. She was just out."

"Ugh!" Kaara was obviously exasperated, but didn't prod further. The rest of the evening continued without incident, and they departed until tomorrow, Akemi totally unaware of what was going to happen to her.


	4. Chapter 4

Well…abuse, reuse, recycle. I watched when I could find the clips.

+--+--+

Chapter 4

_Isn't the night wonderful?_, Kainda asked Akemi.

_Fuck you. I'm trying to sleep_, Akemi replied back. It was about eleven, and she hated the time.

_Dear lord, what is wrong with you?_, Kainda said in a rhetorical question. _If you're just going to be a bitch, I'll bug you during the day._

_Oh no you won't._, Akemi was livid at even the suggestion of having to deal with Kainda all the time. She had managed to repress her this far, and she wasn't giving up the rest of her sanity without a fight.

_Ohmigod, you really think that's stopping me, don't you?_, Kainda's demonic laugh make Akemi pull the blanket over her head. _I'm just being nice to you._

Akemi snickered. _You, nice? You don't even know the meaning of the word._

_And you give a crap why? That wasn't me who stabbed Emopussy today. That was one-hundred-percent Akemi, through and through._

_I know, but he deserves it._

_What the fuck did he do anyway?_

_Quite frankly, he existed. But beyond that, he was just an ass with way too much confidence in himself._

_People could say the same of you._

_I know. But I'll be a hypocrite and have an excuse to hurt someone._

_You're sounding more and more like me every day._

_Well crap._ Akemi cut the conversation off short, and, finally, got to sleep. Not like that was much of a relief though, and one certain dream plagued her all night.

She was in that helpless position again. Her soul was across the world from her body, and there was nothing she could do about it. All she could do is run as fast as she possibly could, without getting tired, with no reminder to tell her she was alive, except for her limitations. She was never fast enough to save anyone's life, never good enough to impress her mother, and never smart enough to understand all the games everyone was playing with her and what remained of her shattered soul. She was just not good enough, apparently.

Damn Kainda. Kainda was everything she wasn't. She was gorgeous, she was talented, she. Was. Deadly. The only thing that could possibly be wrong with Kainda was nothing, according to everyone Akemi knew. But of course, nobody knew the real Kainda, the fierce girl on the edge of life and death, with no need for sleep, love, or people around her. She was adored because nobody knew her. She was loved because she had deceived them all.

Well, almost all of them. You can never hide from your host, can you? But nobody believed her. She was just the weakling whose power got taken away by her mother's folly. Sure, the guy she was supposed to be with was dead, but he obviously wasn't her father. The purple eye power, oh no, the ACCURSED vision. Well, I'm deeply sorry then. You may glorify your doom all you wish, and I'll still try to save you from it. That single survivor was Akemi's only hope. Well, that, and 'Tachi killing everyone on the same night. Thank Mariah he knew what to do right now. She still cursed the words that had arrogantly flown out of her mouth a few days earlier. "Leave the little brother alive, but get rid of everyone else. Give him something to chase you for, and trust me, he'll chase you. He'll chase you until he keels over dead, and even then, he'll try to kill you in spirit. People are just that emotional, after all." Akemi was living proof of that, but she had shunned herself. She almost wished she was the secondary soul. Then, maybe, she would have been exorcised. Whatever happens to souls after that must be better than this. This eternal running, this unforgettable pain.

Akemi awoke in a cold sweat.

_Would you stop being morbid?_, Kainda honestly asked. _I hated being glorified._

_Just don't talk._ Akemi gave herself a second to calm down, then addressed Kainda again. _I don't see why the dream bothers you though. You got what you wanted._

_You wanted it too, you were just less…proactive._

_That's…disturbing._

_Glad to be of service. It's morning anyway._

Akemi noticed, with slight regret, that Kainda was completely right. She wasn't late for anything yet, but she meandered to her closet, choosing a different outfit than the one yesterday, with a skirt and cutoff shirt, but kept the arm socks. Her closet door slammed shut, and she got to Shika's right on time. He seemed a little depressed when he climbed out, and Akemi furrowed her brows, resisting the urge to read his mind.

"Shika…" Her voice was full of concern, and he must have internally cursed himself for showing his mood, because he stiffened, clenching his hands into fists.

"You're asking what's wrong, aren't you?" He relaxed a little, even though he was the one that was talking.

"Yeah."

"And you don't already know the answer?"

The blow hit Akemi, hard. "I wouldn't do that to you!"

"You seem to have no problem doing it to everyone else, why should I assume that I'm different?" He almost said this phrase with regret.

"What, is your dad abusing you or something?" Akemi took a breath. "Look, if you want me to stop, I will. It's just force of habit. And you should assume you're different because I love you, and there's nothing anything can do about that."

Shika resumed his depressed state, and breathed outward through his teeth, then put his head in his hands. "Chougi had a heart attack last night."

Akemi was simply dumbstruck. She didn't know the fa…wide ninja very well (she knew that about him), but she knew how much he meant to Shikamaru. "Is he…"

"No, but it rattled me."

"Understandably." Akemi didn't really have anything to say. She just pulled herself down to the ground, and Shikamaru followed soon afterwards.

"It just reminded me of the real mortality of this issue." He mused. "I mean, he wasn't going anywhere, he wasn't on any sort of mission, but it just served as a reminder. People can die. People do die."

"It's a risk we take."

"And that's just the thing." He continued. "Some people who are going through this chunin exam don't realize that they will risk dying each and every day."

"That seems like something most of the people I know wouldn't realize."

"If you're talking about Naruto, you're wrong." Shikamaru's statement confused Akemi a little, but she kept on listening. "Did you hear about the Haku mission from your dad?"

"No. What was it?"

"Kakashi finally agreed to send them on a C level mission, and they ran into a jounin and someone with one hell of a bloodline trait, that was Haku, attempting to kill the guy they were escorting. It was a difficult B really, and yet, somehow, they all lived. So trust me, I think he knows. Either that, or he's a complete dumbshit."

"Whoah." Akemi was shocked. Her dad never told her about something like this happening.

"Yeah." Shikamaru sighed. "And I think, until last night, they were more aware of the risks than I was."

Akemi stayed silent, almost denying but still accepting that something like that might be possible. They sat like that for a while, but then the sun started to come up, and they made a run for the spot they went every day.

Akemi smiled at the tree, and made her way towards the large branch that was right before the branches started getting thin and bendy. Shikamaru kept up with her all the way, and she turned, feeling her lips hit his. His hands snaked around her waist, and hers went for his hair tie, pulling it out, and then tangling her hands in his neck-length hair as he went for the zipper on the back of her shirt.

It had been almost a half an hour when they got interrupted by Naruto's yell. "Akemi!!"

The mentioned girl's eyes snapped open and went wide, and she broke the kiss with Shikamaru. "Shit."

Shikamaru got off of her and shrugged his short back on, and Akemi did the same. They kissed one last time and then split, Akemi going down immediately and Shikamaru basically getting out of her way.

"There you are." Naruto seemed a little exasperated, an emotion unfamiliar to his face. "Your dad is going to kill you."

"No, he's not." If Naruto had seen anything, he wouldn't be stupid enough to tell. Akemi at least thought he valued his life more than that.

She was right. When they got there, he simply stated, "I found her."

"You're late."

"You probably were too."

Kakashi gave her a glare, but continued with what he was saying before. Akemi didn't pay much attention, instead just making her way towards the building. Kakashi caught her by the back of her shirt.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Inside."

"I don't think so."

"Well I do." Akemi could feel the extra adrenaline boost pulse through her. It had been a while since she had really fought her dad. Three years, two days, and fifteen hours to be exact. "I've been watching people go through this basically since I existed. I can, and I will, go inside."

Kakashi released the back of her shirt, and she almost fell forward onto the pavement, but regained her composure enough to simply put one foot in front of the other and keep on walking. Kaara grabbed her arm, and Akemi stopped walking. "I'll be fine. I've got connections in there." Kaara released her, but they all watched her go, and she could hear Kakashi talking as the door shut and everyone's heads turned.

"HI!!" Of course, Temari was excited to see her. She was sitting near her brothers, and Akemi smiled and made her way over there, ignoring the mumblings of everyone else that she didn't know. "Where's the rest of the crew?"

"Kakashi inc's still outside." Temari scooted over, and Akemi sat on the table with her and some other girl who remained silent. Gaara and Kankuro were sitting on chairs, and neither of them seemed to have much of a reaction to seeing her here. "Please don't tell me I was the only one who didn't know. Gaara?"

"It was kinda big news." She and Gaara didn't hate each other, in fact, quite the opposite. They just had an abusive relationship sometimes. "I think everyone knows."

"Oh. Well that's just great." Akemi was going to have a hard enough time surviving these exams as is.

The rest of her teammates stepped into the building, and Akemi called Kaara over right away.

"What's the rush?" Kaara said as she finally got there.

"I don't want you to get caught in the middle of Naruto saying something stupid."

"How do you know that he will?"

Everyone gave Kaara a look, but Akemi replied as if this sort of statement was normal. "He's Naruto. He'll say something stupid, believe me." She waved to Shikamaru, and he waved back, but seemed focused on something else. Some guy with grey hair was crouched down on the ground, and a bit of chakra was swirling. _Must be those cards_, Akemi thought to herself.

_Don't worry, he doesn't have any stats on you_. Kainda reassured her.

_I would hope so. But if he does, I blame you._

_Why?_

_You're easy to blame._

_Well thanks then. I deleted your card._ Akemi was slightly relieved. Doing B ranked missions at the age of four wasn't exactly considered normal around here.

Akemi turned half an ear to the conversation. They had stats on Gaara, and everyone seemed in shock. She poked him in the shoulder.

"Hey, they're talking about you."

"Great." The sarcasm in Gaara's voice could be heard loud and clear.

"It's not bad, they're all like, whoa, he's god."

"It's that B isn't it?"

"Yup."

"They're easily impressed."

"I thought you knew."

"What're they saying about you?" Gaara had known Akemi in the past, so he knew about Kainda, among other things.

"Nothing. She got rid of my card."

As if right on cue, Kabuto furrowed his brows. "I don't seem to have anything on her here…"

Akemi turned to see who had asked, and Hinata quickly looked away, while Shikamaru seemed to be trying to calm himself down.

She closed her eyes and found his mental strand among all the others. _It's fine, the card's not there._

_Well, that's good at least._ He had gotten good at this, but finished the conversation in case anyone could detect them. They were rare, but hey, they existed back home.

Kaara was all of a sudden alert, and reddening. Naruto blew it.

"Just pretend you don't know him." Akemi gazed at the expressions of the other people in the group, and noticed some sounds on the move. "Be right back."

"Where're you going?" Kaara looked confused.

"I'm saving Naruto's life." She got to the scene of the crime faster than the sound shinobi's could, and hit one in the foot, flipping him over backwards. The other one send some sort of sound wave, and Akemi diluted it with her own voice, not daring to pull out a scream here. It hit the grey-haired guy's glasses though, and they shattered, creating mass panic. Okay, not mass panic, but Naruto and Sakura had a mini-spaz fest.

"Shut up, you worthless bastards!" As much as the cry was cliché, Akemi sweat dropped. There were two people in Kohona that she knew that could detect her mental readings. One was her dad.

The other was this guy.

Akemi cursed underneath her breath as the scarred man reprimanded the three sound ninjas, only catching that she couldn't kill people and blah blah blah.

"And you!" The man talking had met Akemi before, and she raised her head. "What is your excuse?"

"Simply defending sir." Kaara held her breath. Akemi never called anyone sir.

"Fine. Sit down." He went on to explain the tabs, and Naruto's head nearly exploded at the idea of a written test, but Akemi didn't have any worries. She knew about all of this from watching the windows last year. Although this guy had never done this section before…it wasn't that unusual. Akemi ended up in the back, which actually wasn't bad, given that she needed to see everything for this to work.

She listened to the rules, and everything was the same, except for the lose all points thing. That shouldn't be a problem except…

Oh shit. Naruto.

Someone came around to Akemi, Kaara, and the new girl and told them that they'd be on a team together since they happened to be extra. Okay, then she didn't have to worry about Naruto anymore. But she still felt like she should do something.

_With this guy, broadcasting won't work…_She considered her options. Covering her eyes with her hands wouldn't do her any good…her eyes would just glow brighter. Wait. If her eyes amplified her accuracy in the broadcast…She directed the thought towards Kainda.

_I could._

_Without really looking like yourself?_

_Eh…I think so._

_Good. Do it._

Akemi felt her body control slipping as her soul appeared right next to it. She went to Shikamaru and looked at this answers, then put her hand on his shoulder, her signal that everything was all right. She returned to her body, and checked with Kainda.

_He didn't suspect anything_.

_Good work. Thanks._

_Wow she's thanking me. Call the CIA._

"And now, it's time for the tenth question." Akemi knew that forty-five minutes had passed, but some people looked at the clock in a panic. "And for this tenth question, you get to decide weather or not to take it."

Akemi raised an eyebrow, and even Kainda seemed shocked.

Temari seemed stressed. "And what happens if we refuse to take it?"

The guy smiled. "Then your points will be reduced to zero, and you will be asked to leave, along with your teammates."

Some people started yelling, but Akemi's head almost turned red. _I. Hate. This. Guy._ Kainda obviously agreed, saying (thinking) the same thing at the same time.

"If you choose to take it, and answer incorrectly, that person will lose their right to take the chunin exam ever again." Kaara and the new girl didn't seem intimidated, but the mood was heavy as the people in the room realized the seriousness of the situation.

Kiba shouted, and Akemi thought back to the girl in the forest. Besides intellect level, what did they have in common at all?

She missed something the bastard had said, but she didn't really care. Sakura was stressing out, probably stuck between two options.

All of a sudden, the rolling sweat stopped. Naruto raised his hand. Akemi's brain almost fell out her ears. "There's no way…" she mumbled under her breath.

"Don't underestimate me! I will not run!" Akemi's brain rejoined the rest of her body, and she almost melted. So he hadn't gone under some sort of brain surgeon after all. At least that was a relief.

There was a little exchange between the two, but Akemi didn't way attention again until the guy congratulated them on passing the first test.

Nobody thought. For like fifteen seconds, nobody thought. Then some sort of chaos erupted. The guy began explaining, and a flurry of thoughts passed through everyone's heads until something burst through the wall.

Oh. It was Anko. She went about doing some yelling, then noticed Akemi in the back of the room.

"Oh, hi you!"

"Yeah, it's me." Akemi said with a smile. She and Anko had seen each other before. Nobody said anything of note until they got to the second test arena, and Akemi actually paid attention this time. There was no way to observe this test.

"Welcome to the stage for the second test, practice arena 44. Also known as the forest of death!" Anko seemed excited, Sakura seemed worried, and Naruto was preoccupied pretending he wasn't fazed by any of this.

Yeah, he's a dumbshit.

_Agreed._

"And you'll soon find out why it's called the forest of death." Anko was playing off Sakura' obvious fear. Kaara was next to Akemi, and the mystery girl seemed to be stuck to Gaara like glue. Wonder what they're up to.

Naruto repeated Anko in a mocking tone, which Akemi almost smacked him for. He was going to regret that.

Before almost anyone noticed, Naruto had a cut in his cheek and Anko was licking him, which would be gross, if it wasn't so hilarious. Some weirdo with a long tongue was giving Anko a kunai, and Akemi whispered "Dogpile!" to Kaara, which made her laugh.

"Now before we start the second test, there's something I want to pass out." Anko was waving some slips around in the air.

"Waivers?" Akemi wondered out loud.

"There'll be some deaths in this one, and if you don't sign these, it'll be all my fault. Hehe." Anko's facial expression almost made Akemi laugh.

_I'm getting the feeling I'm going to like this one._ Kainda said evilly in Akemi's head.

_As much as I hate it, I have to agree with you. If that girl's on par with Gaara, it shouldn't be much of a problem dominating if a fight is involved._

_Promise me they're be blood?_ Akemi sighed, and Kainda giggled.

_What the hell, I promise. You'll see blood at least once._

_Sweet._

"I'll now explain the second test." Akemi hoped she didn't miss anything important as she tuned in to the real world. "Simply put, you will attempt the ultimate survival." Shikamaru put his head in his hands, and Akemi smiled, which he caught out of the corner of his eye. "Around the practice arena 44, there are 44 locked gates. Forest, river, and a tower in the center. From the gates to the tower is about 10 kilometers. During the survival, you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using your many weapons an jutsu, you will compete in a no-rules scroll battle." Akemi's and Kaara's expressions lit up, and the girl seemed to pay more attention.

"Domination is so much fun." Akemi said to Kaara, who nodded her head in agreement.

_This is going to be sweet._ Kainda's elation showed in her voice, and Akemi considered unleashing her in this. Why take a chance, right?

"You will fight over these two scrolls, heaven and earth. There are 78 people here, 26 teams, meaning half, or 13, get the heaven scroll, and the other half get the earth scroll. To pass this test, your team must make it to the tower with both scrolls. Along with that, there's a time limit. The test will last exactly 120 hours, or five days."

_She gave us time._ Akemi nodded her head in agreement with her inner self. _I'd love to go scroll-burning._ Akemi rolled her eyes.

_Whatever. But only burn one type. We eliminate more pairs that way._ She thought again about what Kainda had said that morning. She was turning into her inner self, bit by bit.

"Now I'll talk about the things that would disqualify you. One, if you don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. Two, if you lose a teammate or have a teammate killed. As a rule, there's no quitting in the middle. You will be in the forest for five days. And one more rule. You must not look inside the scroll until you make it to the tower."

"What happens if you do?" This was probably the only non-stupid thing Naruto had said in the past 24 hours, except for 'I found her.'

"That'll be a surprise for anyone who does. A chunin will be asked to hold classified information. This is to test your worthy-ness." She took a deep breath. "Well that's it for the explanations. Exchange the three forms for your scroll, pick a gate and get ready to start." The girl separated from Gaara and found her way to Akemi and Kaara, already-signed form in hand.

"Mmkay." Akemi swished the paper with her pen, then passed it to Kaara. "I need to know your name and what you can do. Kaara and I have known each other for like, ever, and I don't know you yet."

"Well then." She spoke in a straight forward manner. "I'm Junsui." Something silver wriggled around her neck.

"And that is?"

"A secret."

"Aha." It was probably something they wouldn't allow into the arena.

"Done." Kaara had her form signed, and they meandered over to the door before it was opened, and Anko eyed Akemi before addressing the crowd again.

"A final word of advice. Don't die."

The door opened, and they went inside, receiving a heaven scroll, which Akemi took for now, but gave Junsui a sign that she was going to get it later. It went underneath her skirt in a pocket where there wasn't an obvious bulge, and they picked gate 13 unanimously.

"You know, I like the way you think."

"Same here. Gaara's been talking about you."

"Hopefully nothing too degrading?"

"Eh, I make no promises."

"Oh he is so dead."

"The second test of the chunin exam now begins!" Anko yelled, and the gate opened, almost creating a gust of air. Humid, hot air, but welcome now.

This is where the fun begins.

The first obvious noise to hit Akemi's ears was a scream. "You know, I like this test."

Kaara sighed and rolled her eyes, but they all kept a rapid pace, Akemi giving Junsui the scroll mid-stride.

"What's the plan?" Junsui was leading the way, managing on her own quite well. Akemi liked her already.

"Given that one of us alone could take most of the teams on this field, besides Gaara's and like, my dad or something, always leaving that option open, we just need to find out who has the earth scrolls and who has the heavens."

"And I'll presume you can take care of that." Kaara interjected.

"Yup." Junsui looked confused. "One of my powers, per say, is to read minds. If none of them are thinking about it, then it'll be harder. I'd need help to prod memories at this range."

"Meaning we have to stop."

"Yes."

Junsui turned on a tree, skidding slightly, while Akemi and Kaara stopped facing her.

"Just give me thirty seconds."

_Is it my turn yet?_

_Do your worst. But don't forget, they don't know._

_I know, I know…_

Akemi's soul reappeared next to her body while Kainda worked. She could feel the massive outflux that would have taken half an hour to prepare if she had been in control prod the minds of everyone in the area. When she uncovered one eye, Akemi made the move back in.

_Most people don't have two scrolls yet. The scroll closest to you is a heaven that's actually with Emopussy and co., but they're being bugged by the grass people now._

_I presume they have an earth?_

_Yeah, but kill stealing's boring, so there's someone else with an earth to the east. And one to the north. But the one to the north's Gaara, and I think this girl would have issues fighting him. So, east._

Akemi repeated the news to Kaara and Junsui, leaving out the kill-stealing part. They smiled, and to the east they went.

Sitting in a tree, Akemi scoffed at the strange trio beneath them. They were leaf shinobi, that was for sure, but she wouldn't have claimed any relation to them if her life depended on it.

"Junsui." They were talking below, so that gave her a second to talk to her. "Has Temari taught you anything wind-related?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, take the pink shirt one. Kaara, you get the weirdo with the bowl cut. The long-haired one's mine."

"Why do you get to fight Neji?"

"He reminds me too much of Emopussy."

"It always comes back to him, dosen't it?"

"You bet. Now let's go."

They all moved lightning fast, but they all got blocked on the first strike. Expected.

"Good day to you too." Akemi smiled wickedly.

"I thought I was supposed to find you for the rematch." Neji's brain caught up to the situation without much delay.

"Change of plans. You have something I need."

"That was what that was earlier then."

"Aup, you got me." She broke off the connection of steel and elongated her fingernails.

"I can see who the leader is." Neji noted as the others followed suit.

"One fights another." Akemi released her smile, and the battle began.


	5. Chapter 5

Akemi felt her breath come and go while she stared intensely at Neji. He returned the favor as the fight raged on around them. Ten-Ten (aka Pokeybitch) was getting her ass kicked, and Kaara had been previously been having some problems with Rock Lee (Greensicle), but she had finally gotten the hang of it, so she was (hopefully) doing OK right now. But of course, with every temporary lull in battle, she and Neji went back to a strikingly less temporary fight. He landed a few good blows, but she pulled out a kunai and caught his fingers in mid-punch. She wrenched it back, causing no small ammount of pain, and then collided her hand with the fingers, making a snap.

And I will tell you now, fingers? They don't bend like that.

"AUGH!" He yelled, and everyone came to a standstill. He looked around acusingly, and Akemi used the silence to snap her ankle back into place. Kaara raised an eyebrow. She had put all her weight on that foot to land the blow on Neji.

What sort of monster would just ignore a broken foot like that?, several people thought at once. Akemi teared up as she fixed it and then stepped, but was able too, and adressed everyone.

"So." She took a breath. "Will you give us the scroll now? Or do I need to break more of you?"

He tried to move his hand to reply, and winced in pain. He mirrored Kaara's thoughts in words spoken below his breath, then made a decision. "Fine." He reached behind him, but Junsui wasn't buying it.

She held up the scroll. "You're about ten minutes too late to be pretending you still have this."

Neji looked extreemly pissed off. "Why you little cocky bitch..."

He was interupted mid-thought by Akemi. "Yes, yes, we all know you hate competition, we've heard it all already." He took a breath to begin saying something, but she kept talking. "And if you even dare to start talking about the 'caged bird' thin, I will rip your fucking forhead OFF. Dost thout understand?"

He didn't say anything, but gave the signal and everyone got the hell out of there.

"That owned." Kaara stated.

"Oh yeah. So...are we going in search of more or do we call it here and just get done?" Junsui inquired.

"Eh." Akemi thought about it for a second. "I dunno. Now that I think about it, every scroll we take lowers the chance of Shikamaru and Naruto inc. passing. If the latter has a chance of passing to begin with, no offence."

"None taken. But..." Kaara knew who that was adressing.

"Blondie is on his team, remember?"

"Oh yeah."

"Wait what...never mind." Junsui's thoughts reeked of Gaara as she shut herself up.

"You can't help it can you?" Junsui looked alarmed, but Akemi continued talking. "He's probably passed by now."

"How did you..."

"I can read thoughts, most of the time consiously, unless they're really obvious, like right then."

She sulked for a bit, and Kaara re-started the old topic. "Are you going to go help him out?"

"Nah, I'll let him pass on his own. He'll be fine. By the way, I now realease you to Sasuke."

Kaara was in shock. "You called him by his name!!! Since when?"

Akemi giggled. "Too many sylables. I only call him Emopussy when he's around. Otherwise it takes more effort than his normal name and it dosen't annoy him."

Kaara looked kind of pissed off. "Naturally." She lept for the trees, leaving Akemi and Junsui alone.

"I almost want to slap her."

Junsui suddenly recovered. "Whaa?"

"Eh, I don't want to slap her. It's him I want to slap."

"And/or kill?

"Yes please." She smiled. "He took my Kaara away from me. And now that Kaara is in the bottom of a hole somewhere and this new one has taken over her, and it pisses me off. So now, I almost want to kill him more than I did before, only that's physically impossible."

"No it's not. Nothing's impossible."

"This is."

Junsui sighed, showing some frusturation. "Look, wanting to kill someone more is always possible. But now that we mention death, you could go out and kill him, if you want to as much as you say you do. Why don't you just do that?"

"Cause." Akemi took a breath. "That would be illegal. And I'd probably be somehow executed with the deadly combination of never being able to see Shika again and Sasuke's fangirls. By which I mean his personal mafia, not Sakura and Ino. They couldn't beat me if they both got ten times more powerful and learned to actually work together."

"Nice description." was Junsui's only comment.

"You have some affinity with them?"

"No, no." She smiled as well. "I was just thinking that that just sounds like a long string of excuses, but when you put them together like that, you can convince me."

Akemi struck a pose. "Yes. And that is because I am skilled." Junsui rolled her eyes. "Almightily. You're just jealous."

That was about when they heard the scream. And it was defenitely recognizeable this time.

"KAARA!" Akemi yelled and ran off, leaving a slightly fazed and really confused Junsui behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

Well, back to the routine writing, now that I downloaded openoffice.

Which is kind of nice. It runs like Word 2003 did before Windows crap-ified it and made 2007.

+--+--+

Chapter 6

Akemi arrived on the scene to find Naruto hanging from a tree, and Sasuke and Kaara on the front lines. Sakura was hanging back, as was the norm. Akemi fell into step with them as she started talking.

"Why the scream?"

"It made you come faster." Kaara replied.

"You got that right. Who is this guy?" Akemi inquired, referencing to the person they were fighting now.

"Beats me. Sasuke was fighting him when I got here."

"Well then that's very helpful."

"Would you both shut up and pay attention to the situation at hand?" Sasuke repremainded.

"Whatever you say Emopussy." Akemi taunted.

He grunted in responce.

They ran up a tree together and split, all in different directions, Akemi rocketing backwards through the air, and Kaara and Sasuke going to thier respective sides. She actually got the hangtime to thank heaven for all the times they had fought. It made them quite cordinated, which was useful in fighting a guy who was so obviously repressing himself for some reason.

Kind of like...

_Shut up I'm here already._ Kainda rang out. _Now?_

_Please and thank you_, Akemi said in her head.

She laughed. _I'm not going to keep your form you know._

_Dosen't matter, you're more powerful without it. This guy knows you anyway, at least I think so. He feels sort of familiar._

_I was thinking that too. Okay, time to leave._

Akemi's soul was almost rocketed from her body in Kainda's eagerness to take over. She watched herself become thinner, shorter, and overall more frail-looking as her hair elongated and turned white. Her eyes went pink, and the outfit she had been wearing before was now more ornate. She even had her choice in clothing. Akemi had forgotten about that. She stopped mid-air, and whoever it was on the ground responded to her waves with attention. So he did know her.

He smiled. "Kainda, it's been a while."

She smirked. "Yup. Have you come back to test more of those defective things on me?"

His pretend smile canged to real irritation. "No."

She kept her facial expression. "Well then." She pulled out one hand with the fingernails as long as they would go. "Shall we begin?"

His neck shot outwards and wrapped around her, tying her arms to her side.

"Green envy." She said, and a large green ball of energyexploded outwards, forcing his neck to retire back to it's normal length.

They bashed at each other again and again, each taking part in some sort of demented dance. She skated to a stop on a tree that was now effectively debarked, and he was on full attack. Her head ducked just in time as a sword scraped her neck, drawing a little blood, and time seemed to slow down as she took her first hit in the battle. She whipped up while his tounge was still out at her, and grabbed it, looking at Kaara and Sasuke, who were a bit injured themselves. Kaara immediatly leaped into action, soon followed by Sasuke, and they at went for the tounge that was now trying desperately to retract, almost, seemingly, against it's master's will. His face was priceless. Kainda held fast, and the two others grabbed on.

"PULL!" She yelled, and they all pulled. He didn't react to this in and of itself, but seemed rather frusturated that they had gotten ahold of an apendage of his. The tounge kept extending because of the pulling force though, and Kainda eventually teathered it to a tree, then gave some sort of sign. Akemi's soul was up in the trees, and if anyone could see her, this would be the first time they had seen her completely and truly confused.

Apparently, Sasuke knew what to do. He pulled out some strings and threw out something metal, which Akemi caught up with to figure out what they were, to no avail. They were spinning too fast. She activated her eyes, which caused them to show up on Kainda as well, and then was able to see them clearly.

_Smart, actually. Controllables._ They swept through her and she returned to the scene of the crime, and the wierdo was tied to a tree. Sasuke charged something, and then shot dragon fire out of his mouth, which lit Akemi's soul for a bit before she moved out of the way. The guy was burned, and she saw a bit of the mask he had on peel off. She immediatly shot back into her body and hurled over the edge of the tree.

He stepped out.

"Now, I highly doubt I warrant that sort of reaction." Orochimaru said, now in his full self.

"Are you fucking KIDDING ME?!?!?" She yelled, wiping her face with her sleeve. "Here's a statement for you. I'm interested in guys MY OWN AGE. Now GO THE FUCK AWAY."

"Oh ew." Kaara said. "That is just wrong."

"You're telling me?" She said, waiting for a responce. He just smiled, and she fought off another gag reflex. "Ugh."

"I'm not looking for you right now." Orochimaru resumed talking. "I'm here to leave Sasuke-kun a going away present."

Akemi looked over, and saw that Sasuke was in fact, collapsed on the ground, but not writing in pain or anything. And then, all of a sudden, Orochimaru was there, biting the back of Sasuke's neck. She screamed and ran for him, but didn't make it in time. He fell over the rest of the way, and a scream behind her sounded all to genuine. She looked behind her, then at Orochimaru.

"It is impossible to be in two places at once." He said, smiling, then began to sink into the tree, and her blood almost litterally boiled over. She charged for him this time, driven by her rage and immense chakra levels, and managed to grab the top of his head before he went totally inside.

"Oh hell no." She ripped him out and tossed him aside like trash. Kainda's anger combined with hers, and they made a visible aura about their two souls. "There's no running away this time."

"And even if you were to run away." She said, in a double voice that sounded like the two of them speaking slightly after each other, "There's no way I would let you get off with something stolen from my friends." She was at her full potency now, and really didn't give a fuck that her world was now blown wide open. She was at him while he was still in mid-flight, and hit the small of his back, which made a sickening crack as he was shot upwards into the air. She beat him to his maximum height as well, and proceeded to play ping-pong with the trees. It seemed too fast for anyone to see, and Kaara, holding her neck, looked up in a sort of wonder that anyone could physically move that fast. Akemi didn't notice the difference, eyes on and still wrapped up in beating this guy down as much as possible. A small flash spoke of replacement jutsu, and she let the fake hit the tree of it's own accord, where it turned into sludge and left a hole. She was scanning the trees when something slimy hit her cheek and covered her mouth. She didn't let the overall grossness of the situation get to her as she pulled out the hand with the really long fingernails and tried to slice it off, only to find that her arms were tied down as well. _Well, fuck_. She thought to herself as she was drawn in, and considered her options. She realized what she had to do, but she didn't like it, but then again, it was either that or deal with whatever he had planned for her. Kainda took over as her soul edged out of her body, and Akemi looked away as she got closer to Orochimaru. If Kainda couldn't pull this off, they were both really screwed. She could feel her soul's power be slowly sucked away, and for a second, feared the worst.

She summoned the courage to look, and the best had come true. Kainda, obviously putting in a lot of effort, was pushing away Orochimaru bit by bit with wings that were dying to flex out completly. She shot back into her body and fell out, with the wings retracting themselves back into her back. She hit the tree and side-stepped something that exploded beside her,


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry about that. It seems I was going to write more on Chapter 6 and then forgot to end it.

Picking up where I left off ^.^

+--+--+

Chapter 7

, then flew through a tree. Shrapnel flew everywhere as she burst out the other side, rejoining the majority of the population. Orochimaru walked through the significant hole in the tree, clapping.

"Now there she is." Akemi edged half out as she and Kainda waited for the next attack, that didn't come. "Time to test your endurance."

And in a flash, he was gone. Even thry couldn't see it coming. The world stood still, and then she adjusted out of a fighter's pose. She sighed, and everyone started to relax.

She looked up at the sky, tears in her eyes. The double voice returned as she spoke one phrase.

"So long and goodnight."

Everything sharply stopped, as Akemi fully broke down, falling to her knees. Everything had a blue tint, as if it was all encased in a block of ice, and she just sat there and cried and cried for however long it was, while everyone was paused in the middle of what they were doing. Sasuke was passed out, and Sakura's lines of worry looked etched onto her face as she ran to retrieve Naruto from the tree. Kaara was in mid-scream, but no sound came out. When Akemi finally lifted her head, Kainda was looking at her.

"It's been a while." She sounded regretful, but Akemi knew it was because she had lost the fight. She simply couldn't feel regret for people, and it wasn't because of a bias, despite how it sounded like one. It was truly impossible.

Akemi looked up at her inner self, then looked away. "Maybe."

They sat and stood in silence while nothing happened around them, then Akemi stood up.

"Let's see if we can find him."

Kainda nodded, and they sped along at a pace they could both keep, checking everywhere in the forest. Orochimaru was simply nowhere to be found.

Akemi felt tears come to her eyes again. "Still."

"Hhmm?" Kainda acknowledged her statement.

"We're gifted in all sorts of ways, but we still can't do anything to stop him. Or anyone, it really seems like. You're the queen of disparity, and all I can do is follow in your footsteps."

"Now let's not go blaming me for this."

"I'm not."

"I know. And as much that I can agree about the queen of disparity, you have your own spot in this fucked up circus we call life."

"'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there, and everyone wants to know that someone cares, someone to love with my life in their hands..."

"There's gotta be somebody for me like that."

"'Cause nobody wants to go it on their own, and everyone wants to know they're not alone, there's somebody else who feels the same somewhere."

"There's gotta be somebody for me out there." Kainda showed some genuine sadness as she finished the string of lyrics. Akemi realized that she was sort of right when you thought about it. She wasn't ever going to have a life besides the creepy chick inside of Akemi that comes out whenever she gets pissed. Or just feels like being a bitch. A homicidal bitch.

"I guess." Akemi said softly. Kainda flopped down on the ground, and looking at her seemed like looking at a small child. A small child cursed with some burden that was unbeknownst even to her, but she knew it was there. "Stop it."

Kainda looked up, and her pink eyes seemed soft.

"You're looking cute. It's making me feel sorry for you."

She smiled, genuinely, and it lit up her face. "I guess there's hope then."

Akemi rolled her eyes. "If you were like that every time anyone saw you, I would be lacking a boyfriend and you'd have more fans then Sasuke."

"More rabid too?"

"I'm not sure why you'd want that."

"More rabid?

"Sure, whatever. More rabid too."

Kainda smiled again. Her smile was confusing. It was hope for love and fear of everything and an underground desire to simply be by herself for the rest of her life. There was no killer intent to be seen anywhere when she was happy.

"We'd better get back." Akemi ran for where the people were and resumed looking up at the sky exactly like she had been before. The slightest change in position could cause a major air adjustment, that, despite being loud, could cause an explosion. Freezing time is freezing time after all. Kainda settled and waited for her soul to be shot back into Akemi's body.

"Should I give up? Or should I just keep chasing pavement?"

The world shot back into motion as everyone stepped down. Akemi ran off as well, running for Kaara and arriving there without a problem.

"How are you?"

"My neck hurts like a bitch." Kaara had her hand pressed over the wound, and when Akemi pulled it off, the black swirl gave away what she already knew.

"No offense, but you have a ten percent chance of living."

"I have a what now?" She hadn't heard.

"Nothing." Akemi sang out. She couldn't tell Kaara that twice. Besides, she wouldn't deal with it very well. But then again, she might. She's pretty cool.

"I have a nothing. Great." And sometimes a dork. Yeah.

"Kay." She stood up and addressed Kaara again.

"Look, I know you're in pain, but we need to go. They can handle themselves."

"But Sasuke's..." Kaara trailed off, and kind of turned away from Akemi towards the aforementioned guy.

"Hurt I know. But Kaara." She hated doing this, but Junsui was waiting. "We have to go."

Kaara stood. "Fine." she said coldly, but as she turned to run back where she had come from, Akemi saw a flash of a tear in her left eye.

She just followed and got back to Junsui, who looked very pissed off. "What the fuck you guys. Seriously now, why'd you ditch me like that?"

"Emergency." Akemi said, stopping Kaara from talking. "We've already won, let's just go and turn it in." Kainda pouted, but Akemi remained solid on the outside.

"Ugh." Junsui seemed pissed off about this arrangement as well. "Fine then."

"Why does everyone hate me so much right now?" Akemi inquired.

Kaara just shot a look, and Junsui responded. "Well I don't know what her problem is, but I wanted to ruin a few more people's chances at winning."

"If we run into anyone on the way, feel free."

"Thanks. My ego has been satisfied."

"Uh-huh." Akemi started running before the rest of them, and wasn't really checking her pace till Kaara started yelling.

"Hey! Superbitch! We haven't all been bitten by radioactive spiders you know!"

_That was the lamest attempt at imitating you. Ever._

_I'm glad you think so._

_I know so. Although it's rather descriptive._

_Then she's halfway there?_

_What the hell, sure._

_Yippee!_

Junsui and Kaara had caught up by this point, and Akemi had leaned up against the building.

"Looks like your ego lost."

"Of course it did." Junsui smiled. "Yours is much bigger."

"I walked right into that. And as much as I don't find it offensive, since it is totally true, nice."

Junsui bowed deeply, and stood up again, then bowed in a different direction. Akemi laughed a bit, and kicked through the wall she had been leaning on before.

Kaara raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I'm too lazy to find the door."

"I see that. But you somehow aren't too lazy to kick a hole in a stone wall."

"Destruction is fun."

"Huh. You think I would know that about you by now."

As they walked in, Akemi heard piano in her ears, which then turned to a guitar riff. Quiet, but audible. She stepped further in, and the farther from the scrolls she got, the quieter the noise.

"Does anyone else hear..."

A voice much like her own began singing, softly, with the music.

"I tried, to kill the pain. But only brought more."

"Junsui." God dammit, they had some sort of angry spirit. "Open the scrolls."

"What? Why?" She couldn't hear it. Naturally.

"Just do it." Akemi responded to the song with the next line before who or whatever this was got really pissed off. "So much more."

"I lay dying, and I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal. I'm dying, freeing, bleeding, and screaming. Am I too lost to be saved? Am I too lost?"

Akemi all of a sudden had realization smack her in the face. "My god." She said under her breath. "JUNSUI OPEN THE DAMN SCROLLS!"

Junsui at the moment was fumbling with the strings as the singing continued. "I'm fucking trying! God dammit."

"My tourniquet, return to me salvation." The voice got louder.

"My god" Akemi fell down onto her knees. It wasn't possible.

Mariah had been dead for years. Kainda was freaking out.

"My tourniquet, return to me salvation. Do you remember me? Lost for so long." She seemed to address Kainda now "Will you be on the other side when you forget me?"

Junsui finally ripped the strings off and the music got in full quality. "I'm dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming!" Something twisted out of the scroll and disconnected, stepping lightly down onto the ground. "Am I too lost, to be saved? Am I too lost?"

Akemi just stared. The woman had short hair in the back, but really long hair in the front two strips, that almost touched the ground. Her hair was snow white, like Kainda's, and she had thick black bands of hair color originating from one point in her head that spread everywhere else, creating this streaking effect. Wherever the streaks met the end of her hair, it dipped down, creating the illusion of a black rainstorm emerging from her head. Her light grey skirt was short, like most people Akemi used to know, but her shirt, that was the same color, had long sleeves that ballooned over her hands, and on the end of these sleeves was a geometric design, stitched in royal purple. She was wearing a pair of thigh-high boots that Akemi was now the possessor of, which were the same purple color. Her dark red eyes were the exact same color as Akemi's

Akemi felt Kainda's rage boiling up in her, but she ignored it, and got up from the floor, then composed herself.

"I never thought I'd say this again." She took a breath. "But long live the Spider Queen."

+--+--+

Lyrics used in this chapter (in order of appearance): Helena – My Chemical Romance, Gotta be Somebody – Nickelback, Pavement – Adel, Tourniquet - Evanescence


	8. Chapter 8

I've had this open on my profile for a while, but I'm posting a notice in the writing.

Since my profile doesn't get that much traffic.

I'm letting other characters into my story, so if you want one in,

send an e-mail or pm and give me the bio.

Fill out the skeleton in my profile.

Do it. You know you want to.

+--+--+

"What? Spider Queen?" Kaara interjected. Akemi was obviously the only one who knew what she was talking about. Junsui was kind of sitting there in shock.

_Good morning Akemi. And hello Akemi's friends. I really hoped that I would be able to meet some friends of hers someday._ The surprisingly gentle voice echoed in their heads.

Akemi thought about it for a second, but Mariah would be offended if she called her anything else. _Good morning mother._

Kaara stopped, and stared, then started yelling. "MOTHER? I thought your family was dead!"

Mariah nodded. _We are._

Kaara stared directly at Mariah. "Wait, if you can hear, why are you talking in our heads?"

_Because I can't speak, obviously._

_There. Finally got that working right._ Junsui joined in on their silent conversation.

"Why am I the only one that is freaking out here?" Kaara wasn't yelling anymore, but she was obviously still angry.

_Because you're the only one who isn't telepathic._ Junsui responded mater-of-factly.

_She's got a point._

"Oh would you all just shut up."

_Kaara don't tell Mariah to shut up. _Akemi thought urgently.

_You're all really strange._ Mariah was the last one to talk, and everyone went quiet. _Look, I only have a few minutes left, since I couldn't finish the song. To answer Kaara's question, well, questions, the first one is because I am the Spider Queen. You evidently don't know the back-story, and I have no intention of telling you. For the second one, it's because you're the only one here unfamiliar with the concept of death. But I really came here to tell Akemi something. It's not over yet._

_That's it?_

_Yup. It's not over yet._

Akemi got pushed aside as Kainda took over.

_What the hell do you mean it's not over yet._

Junsui seemed alarmed at the sudden change in tone, and Kaara was just quiet.

_Well that took you long enough._

_Whatever._ She (Kainda) was having problems controlling herself again.

_And I do simply mean that what you started has yet to be finished._

_You lie. _Akemi could hear the thought repeating in Kainda's head. _You lie you lie you lie. I did it. You're dead, and it's my fault, and I fucking love it._

_I do, don't I?_ Mariah seemed to want to continue with screwing around in Kainda's head, but she was fading fast, and Akemi gained some grip on the air and shot back into her body.

_Goodbye._ She couldn't think of anything else to say.

_Goodbye to you too._

Akemi suddenly almost slapped herself. _The angel has flown. _It served as a banishment for Mariah, and she whisked away.

The room stood still in a mix of emotions. Confusion, sadness, and the urge to be quiet just because that was what everyone else was doing right now mixed in the air, and you could almost see it. Nobody dared to even breathe as the presence slipped away from them.

"Akemi?"

"Yeah Kaara?"

"Your mom has cool hair."

"Well it doesn't grow like that, I'll tell you for sure." If Akemi remembered correctly, she dyed the black and white streaks in her hair, and it actually a different color entirely, but what was that color, since she knew it wasn't green...god dammit.

"What do we do next?" Junsui was being very practical about this whole thing.

"We'll get taken out of here in a few minutes. Since our summon wasn't exactly alive, and also never lived here, there are probably other arrangements to get out of this forest."

As if on cue, Anko showed up. "Why are you girls still here?"

"We're kind of waiting to leave."

"Well then come on." Anko seemed sort of exasperated about something. "We've got one more thing to get you girls through then you get a break."

Akemi shot through Anko's brain quickly, and found something about Orochimaru. He does seem to have way too many connections in this village.

"By the way Kaara." Her friend turned her head and gave Akemi her attention. "How's your neck?" Kaara reached up and placed her hand on it, and pressed down a little.

"Well now that you mention it, not that bad really." She kept pressing on it curiously and then gasped. "Okay, it hurts now."

"Stop pushing on it smart one." She had a few more questions for Kaara later regarding that small mark, but for now, this would have to do. She was taking this surprisingly well.

"We're here." Anko announced. Akemi stopped suddenly, staring at the rather unimpressive building before her. "I've got to go." Anko dismissed herself without much ado, and Akemi actually decided to find the door this time. When let inside, they were escorted to an area-like area, where people were kind of hanging out as they waited for everyone to return. Junsui re-glued herself to Gaara's side, and Kaara and Akemi were left to themselves. To Akemi's dismay, Shikamaru had not shown up yet.

She sat down on the ground, sighing to herself. She took a look around, and knew this was the one-on-one fighting stage, and she also knew that there was no such thing as teams anymore. Which means that she and Kaara were on their own, and might end up fighting each other. That would be a stitch. If the ref didn't die, someone was going to.

"Akemi?" Kaara was trying to talk to her. She had sat down without making any noise.

"Yeah?"

"Why was the summon only important to you?"

She sighed. "Well, it might be since as a team we didn't have a sensei, that was kind of my mother who has been dead for twelve years, and she showed up to tell me I have a surviving relative, which by itself would be news."

"But how did she get the summoning rights on the scroll?"

"If someone showed up who could read your every thought without blinking, has hair like that, which is reason alone for intimidation, and is rather obviously dead, you would do what they said right?" Akemi posed the situation she thought had gone down.

"True." Kaara thought for a second. "Very true."

Akemi scouted out the competition, and realized that unless she ended up fighting someone she had an emotional attachment to (ex. Gaara), there was really no problem in getting through this stage. Unless everyone had some freaky hidden weapon and was doing an awful god job at not thinking about it. But that was unlikely at best. The door opened again, and a pair of heavy boots fell repeatedly on the floor, but nobody really noticed until a male voice started yelling.

"Keichi fucking hurry up!" Kaara was all of a sudden alert, and Akemi was, one might say, suddenly rather interested in this guy.

He strode into the room, and she could sort of feel the same sort of attitude that Shikamaru has, but this dude was different, as in, he really didn't have nearly as much to back it up.

"He's really cocky." Akemi commented to Kaara.

"And really cute."

Akemi looked at him again, and that was when she noticed the hair color. His hair was red, bright, candy red, almost as obnoxious as her green. His face wasn't bad, but he was just too damn full of himself.

_I think you'd like him._

_I think you should just go die. You're guilty as much as I am._

_Well, like you said, I'll be hypocritical and have an excuse to make fun of you._

_I said him, but whatever, you have your point._

A rather freaked-out looking girl came up behind him, and her hair wasn't much unlike Kaara's, only it was much longer. She had on a cute little kimono that was black and red, and she looked very stereotypical shy girl. Skinny, short, and always seemed to be turning some shade of pink. Akemi instantly liked her for some reason.

Kaara looked disappointed. "And he's dating."

"I don't think so."

"You need to stop reading the minds of everyone you see."

"I didn't. I can just tell."

"Whatever you say." Kaara was trying not to stare after him, and Akemi sighed.

"Look, I'll get them over here."

"No, just the guy."

"I'm doing it, I make the rules. The girl comes too. Or you can fetch him yourself." Kaara couldn't argue with that, and Akemi stood up, walking over. She could see him closer now, and she could almost see where the appeal came from. He was wearing a black tank that fit him well, and some simple pants. It looked nice.

"A little loud?" She poked a bit of fun at him, and he seemed rather irritated about it.

"Not your problem." He had a deep voice.

"Whatever you say." She was obviously being sarcastic, and the girl, who Akemi assumed was Keichi, giggled a bit. "Where are you guys from?"

"We're in the fire country, but it's a ways outside of here. You people have a serious city going on here. It's kind of weird." He appeared to be the spokesperson for the two of them.

Speaking of which. "Question two. Why are there only two of you? I got stuck on a team with someone else since there was only Kaara and me."

"Is this a test?"

"Yes, of course I'm going to judge weather you guys are spies or not. I'm absolutely sure I care. Just tell me."

"Well really." The girl finally spoke. "There wasn't enough people to make us a team of three, so they figured we were OK on our own."

"Not fair."

"Hhmm?" He raised an eyebrow. "Do you think you could do better?"

"I could be on a team by myself, just FYI."

"Sure." The voice sounded consistent enough, but she could tell he didn't believe her. Oh he was going to pay for that.

She pulled up a small green envy. "Try to break it."

"I'm not going to humiliate you."

"Do it, and keep your limbs."

"Fine." Akemi allowed his finger to poke through, and when he was halfway through, she sealed it so his body couldn't pass through. Therefore, he couldn't move one way or another. He pushed a little, then harder, then flung his hand furiously about, but he couldn't get his finger loose. Keichi was about to explode from trying not to burst out laughing.

"Go ahead, if he tries to kill you, I can extend this all the way up his arm." She realized she had pulled the green envy out without yelling obnoxiously. Sweet.

Keichi almost died laughing as he furiously tried to get his hand free, and Akemi couldn't help but break a smile. If she fully lost it like she wanted too, it would make the shield too difficult to keep up. Shikamaru walked in about that time, and she waved at him with her other hand. He saw what was going on, and shook his head, but he was smiling. She head nodded him over, and apparently Kaara had showed up for the show.

"How long has this been going on?"

"A while. Actually three minutes and fifteen, sixteen, you get the idea, seconds." Akemi looked at Keichi, who was finally over her giggle fit.

"Help?" He had stopped thrashing about like some crazy fish, and had turned to Keichi.

The pure mention of him talking almost sent her into another fit of giggles. She covered her mouth with one hand and showed him the other, then recomposed herself. Or not. She giggled every time she opened her mouth. "It's just...you look so inherently stupid!" she couldn't stop smiling, and Akemi got the idea that wherever they were from, he was valued more than she was, so this sort of hilarity was normally frowned upon. That was sad.

She placed one hand on top of the small circle and sent a course of energy directly down the middle, which made it flicker. Akemi kind of sat there in shock.

"You've dealt with this before?" she released it, and the guy pulled his hand back, rubbing where the finger had been trapped, even though it hadn't been injured in any way.

She shrugged. "Kinda. I sort of get what's going on there."

"Well you had the right idea, you just need some more oomph in the actual charge."

"And what will you do if you end up fighting this girl?" Shikamaru was trying to get her to stop talking before she made him demonstrate something.

"I've got a lot of different things I can do, no prob. That's not my only defense."

"But it's your least taxing."

"And nobody has figured out how to possibly deal with it before besides this Keichi girl and you, but you're just like that. And given that I have never seen her before, I'm amazed that she knows how to destroy a type of barrier that as far as I know is unique to me."

Keichi was blushing. "Really, it was just a guess..."

"Keichi there is no stopping this now just go along with it until one of us is right. But, Akemi, although that is remarkable, it is not a good reason to go spilling your secrets all over the place." Shikamaru cut her off and made a point all at once.

Akemi thought for a second. "Damn. You win. Okay I'll shut up now."

Keichi looked shocked. "Wait, how the hell do you know my name?"

"Because that was what Akemi called you."

"You picked up on that?"

"Yeah, he's smart. Just a tidbit."

She turned to ask Kaara why she hadn't talked, but she and the guy were wrapped up in conversation, and she decided to leave them alone. Besides, he was probably really pissed off at her right now for the green envy stunt. Hopefully it had taken him down a few notches.

Hopefully.

They left and came back for a few days while 120 hours ticked by slowly as ever.


	9. Chapter 9

Still taking characters! I actually got one! Woo!

Oh, by the way, longest chapter yet. You'd all better be pleased with me.

+--+--+

Akemi eventually managed to draw Kaara back into the conversation, and found out the guy's name is Kai, his favorite color was...something, and he really didn't like being one-upped.

_Well I wonder where that topic of conversation came from._ Kainda had said, and Akemi had to really restrain herself from laughing because Keichi was being kind of normal and she didn't want to laugh at what she was saying. She apparently came from somewhere with major sexism, so she's normally considered backup, which is really irritating her since she was the smart one anyway.

_Wow. That must really suck now that I think about it._

They were being forced to stand in line like the little soldiers they were, and someone who looked really sick was talking. And not just kind of sick, more like contagious disease sick. Ew. It was really doubtful that anyone was paying any attention at all except for the people that hadn't been here before. Which, sadly, was most of the people.

Sigh.

She let her eyes wander around the stadium of sorts, and she observed more of a meeting building than a fighting arena where there were lives at stake. There were overreaching balconies on each side, with one staircase on each. Although that was probably only going to be used to get up. It wasn't really that high. She checked on the auras of everyone around her, and despite the overwhelming sick, she managed to pick up that Gaara's emotions were going kind of screwy. She decided not to look into it and poked around a bit, but mostly people were either really bored or super excited. This was a new experience for a lot of people here, she realized. A one on one match, no rules, well, some rules, but it was, essentially, a death match.

This was bound to be interesting.

Kaara had the essence of chill about her and Kai was getting all riled up. How on earth do they tolerate each other anyway?

They suddenly got disbanded and Akemi had to resist the urge to show off and fly up, but then she realized everyone was leaving. Of course. There were some people who hadn't changed out of the clothes they'd been wearing for five days yet.

She thought about going home, and then decided to do so, joining the mob of people who were slowly filing out.

She was humming to herself as she ran home, and realizing Kakashi wasn't in, went straight for her closet. She whipped it open to find a lot of bright colors. She started piecing through the fabric, and decided on a strapless top (naturally), and a pullover skirt that tied on the side. She struggled with it for about five minutes until she realized it did, in fact, have to go over something. She rummaged through her closet and simply couldn't find anything, and then she noticed the roll of bandages on the table.

_Aha._ She pulled them down and made pants on herself out of them (which she was sure she was going to regret later), then tied the skirt on over that.

Success! It stayed. She stared intensely at the band that symbolized the leaf village for a while, then tied it on right above the knee, below where her pants (of sorts) ended. She had arm-socks that matched she shirt, and she pulled those on, and to her surprise, they went all the way up her arm. She found some pure white heeled boots, and grabbed those as well, putting them on and realizing they added five inches to her already tall figure. Oh well. She clicked her way around the room, looking for anything else she might want to bring with her, and found a letter on her dresser. It was from Shikamaru, and she pulled it open, and a string with a single red bead on it fell out. She undid the bow and put it around her neck, then proceeded to read the letter.

_Hey there!_

_You were talking about how you had lost the ring I got you so I figured this might be easier to keep track of._

_Wear it?_

_Love you!_

_Shikamaru._

She smiled reading the letter, and almost tore apart her closet again looking for the ring he had given her a month ago. It was about a size too big, since she used to wear full on gloves all the time and he had bought it for that, but once she stopped wearing them it kept sliding off of her finger. It was SOMEWHERE in her room, she just didn't know where.

Too late now. She just had to keep telling herself that. She would find the damn thing someday.

She got back to the arena before the rush, and ascended the stairs without difficulty, which is a feat in five-inch heels, even if they aren't stilettos. They shouldn't hinder her fighting ability much, and pinning someone's head to the wall with your foot is always fun.

And created facial expressions to kill for.

She leaned on the railing and swiveled her hair around her finger as people began to show up. She started checking out people's hair colors, since that was all she could see. Pink (Sakura), brown, blond, black, red (oh, there's Gaara), grey, sort of cream white and...poofy. And really long. That was weird. She kept seeing repeats and considered just counting all the different shades instead of just colors when people she knew appeared.

"Hey!!!" Keichi yelled up at her. Akemi gave a little wave back, and Keichi ran up the stairs. She had her hair back in braids, but she had kept the short black and red kimono she had been wearing before.

"You would be so proud of me."

"What?" Akemi turned her head and brushed a hair out of her face.

"I ditched Kai!"

"Nice!" She stood up and high-fived Keichi, and realized just how much taller she was right now. Keichi looked like a midget.

"Holycrap you got tall." An observant midget.

"Yeah, I'm wearing heels."

She stared down, then looked at Akemi with wide eyes. "You can walk in those things?"

"Yeah."

"Damn. Lucky bitch." Keichi herself was wearing flat shoes, and Akemi assumed it was more for health concerns rather than comfort.

Akemi laughed a bit, and leaned back on the railing. Everyone was mostly in their places now, and she took a look behind her while final adjustments were made.

"Who's that?" Keichi pointed directly behind Akemi's head, and she flipped over on the bar, now looking directly across. There was a girl with black hair, a little shorter than Keichi's, looking rather pissed off for no apparent reason. Akemi made eye contact, and immediately felt a chill go down her spine. Not in a bad way, more like someone had dropped and ice cube down her back.

She shivered and looked away, and Keichi looked positively paralyzed.

"Keichi." Akemi said calmly, and Keichi snapped out of it. She was quivering all over. "You're overreacting. What's the problem?"

"Just looking at her makes me freezing cold."

"Oh okay." I suppose it's more extreme when others look at her.

_I think you're just used to the cold. Winter was fucking FREEZING back home, if you remember._

_I do, somewhat. Entertaining you still call it home._

_Some habits you can't break._ It seemed like Kainda was face-palming right now.

_Whatever._ Everyone was in place and the first fight was being announced.

"Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi" The screen read. Sasuke was on the ground before Akemi could blink, and the other guy was there as well. Before possibly? Whatever. His (Sasuke's) opponent looked well built, and had a mask over his face. She flipped through his head for a bit, and he looked up and made eye contact with her, which she didn't bother breaking.

_Well thank god you're not against this guy._

_Yeah._ Akemi couldn't help feeling sorry for Sasuke. This guy's power was brutal. She watched the fight go more and more in Yoroi's favor and could feel Sasuke's energy get drained away. She almost considered helping him out when he got an idea. He ran directly at the guy and kicked him into the air. So he really couldn't take _that_ risk after all.

"Eh." She said out loud to herself, but quietly. "That'll do it." She watched as Sasuke did a perfect imitation of Lee's move, much to his (Lee's) dismay. Then, something went wrong.

Mid air, Sasuke just stopped. The signature black curls started flying out of his neck and onto everywhere else.

"Oh shit." Akemi knew what was going on. It had only happened to her once, but he was going to drive himself insane. Or immobile, whichever came first. Then she got slapped in the face. Her awareness was still in his mind, and a pure, solid "No." just came out of nowhere. Her head pounded like she had been rammed into a wall several times over. "Ow."

Keichi looked over, worried. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Their tiny dialogue was interrupted by a thud into the floor. "Looks like he actually managed it."

"Huh?" Keichi hadn't been paying attention, "Oh." She regarded the scene below, and Akemi retracted from Sasuke's head. Yoroi was on the ground, almost dead, not quite, but almost. Enough to call the match, apparently.

"The victor is Sasuke Uchiha" The sick ref called, then coughed a bit.

_I really hope I don't catch whatever he's got._

Kakashi was trying to escort Sasuke out of the arena, and he was resisting, but eventually was convinced. On his way out, he looked directly at Akemi, and to her surprise, a voice very different from his rang in her head.

_Don't think you can get away with that forever._ It wasn't Orochimaru, nor was it Sasuke. Who the living fuck was it then? Nobody else should have a large influence in the way he thought.

"Zaku Amubi vs. Aburame Shino" Akemi looked at the screen and didn't recognize either name, but it was apparent enough that they were from different villages.

Sakura shot a look of recognition, and the guy had one arm tied up, so they must have had an experience in the second stage.

She watched for a little while, but was quickly getting tired of Zaku's attitude. She looked back when Shino was making his first move. She and Keichi looked so grossed out Shikamaru couldn't help but laugh. Wait. Where did he come from?

"Jeez you guys, you're acting like a bunch of arachnophobes."

"I'm not scared of bugs." Akemi announced, quietly. "That" she paused, "is just disgusting."

Shino had bugs crawling all over his skin, that were, apparently, coming out from underneath. They were all over the floor as well, and Akemi kept watching. Zaku pulled his other arm out of the sling, and the dude with the poofy hair was all happy to himself, but Akemi knew it was dumb luck that arm worked at all. He began to fire and his arms blew across the room.

Wait.

_HOLY FUCK!!!_ Kainda screamed in her head. _DID YOU FUCKING SEE THAT?!?!?!?!?!_

_Yes, I think I did. And ow, by the way,_ Akemi had a screaming headache now, but couldn't break her attention. I mean, this dude's arms were gone. Gone! A medic team ran onto the scene, and he was quickly taken off the field, leaving his arms behind. Someone ran after to pick them up.

"That is so disturbingly awesome." Akemi stared at the arms, and Shino called his bugs back into himself.

Shikamaru sighed. "I thought you would think so. You might actually like him."

"If I could ever get over the bug thing."

"You are such a girl."

"You'd prefer otherwise?"

Akemi looked at the screen and saw her name, accompanied by Junsui's. She leapt over the bar and landed on the ground with a soft click. Junsui was down there, and Gaara looked...worried.

Oh this was thick.

Junsui was obviously not allowing their almost-friendship to get in the way, which was good. _This fight might actually be worthwhile._ Kainda commented, but Akemi ignored her. She couldn't come out here, and hopefully Junsui didn't know that.

"Start." The coughing ref announced.

The battle was fast-paced from the start, each catching the other's attacks seamlessly. Left foot right hand, right hand left leg, it was like a demented game of twister. They were both using a bit of chakra, but nothing much, when Akemi found an opening. Whatever the silver thing was that she was hiding was moving around her neck, and Akemi reached in and grabbed it, pushing off of Junsui. When she looked at what she had in her hand, a small silver dragon rewarded her insight. She pushed at it a little, and when Junsui made a move, it shot lightning out of it's mouth at her, which barely missed her head. The ends of her hair were singed, and she threw it against the wall with a sickening crack.

Junsui looked extremely pissed off.

"What? It was going to kill me." Akemi acted like she had done nothing wrong, and had just enough time to dodge a flying kunai from behind her. The dragon had thrown it. "Damn scales, making me think the back was broken before it actually was." She elongated her fingernails, and started running at Junsui. The dragon followed her, and she threw her head back so it stopped right above her as to not hit Junsui. She grabbed it, and found what seemed like the throat, which she pressed into and made it spurt lightning. It slipped out, and Akemi took advantage of Junsui's temporary shock to kick her in the gut with her heel. Those things were so worth it.

A bit of blood leaped free from Junsui's mouth as she hit the wall behind her. Her dragon was back, and she smiled and told it to do some things.

Akemi was feeling the rhythm of the battle pretty well at this point, and she ran at Junsui, then appeared on the left, and the right. The dragon was fully lightning by this point, and she put out a small shield to keep it from killing her. It rocketed straight at her, and she deflected it with the small bubble. It wasn't going down without a fight apparently, and she hit it again. She was almost playing ping-pong with the thing when she got sick of it and threw the bubble at the dragon, which confused it, and stuck her hand, elongated fingernails and all, into Junsui's gut.

"It's over." Shikamaru admitted.

"Huh?" Keichi looked at him, and he started to explain.

"Every one of those fingers is hitting an organ. She usually does stomach, liver, and whatever else she can get her hands on, but just by twitching her fingers, she makes holes in them. She doesn't usually mean to be fatal, but it hurts like all fuck."

As an assurance of Shikamaru's prediction, Junsui started screaming.

Akemi was whispering. "Give up. I don't want to kill you, but if the enzymes from your stomach get anywhere else in your body, you'll eat yourself from the inside out. And I'll tell you right now, it's not pretty."

Junsui was almost crying, but she looked at Akemi with defiance in her eyes. "No."

Akemi moved her hand again, and Junsui avoided screaming this time, although tears sprung to her eyes. "No."

The muscles in Akemi's arm tensed and she prepared to really rip at it when Junsui screamed in her head. _NO!_

The dragon had gotten it's bearings and was flying at her, holding the ball underneath it. Akemi released it, and pulled her whole arm upwards, holding Junsui up by the gut. She was biting her lip to hold in a scream, and the dragon stopped, worry written all over it's tiny face. Akemi's hand shifted an inch upward as Junsui's blood started to stain her dress.

"You really like her don't you?" Akemi's ruthless nature was coming out as she bent over and held the tiny dragon by the head, catching Junsui's attention. She pressed down with her fingers, and the dragon squirmed uncomfortably as she urged it upwards. She stared at it a bit, then dropped Junsui on the ground and hurled it into the wall full-force. The crack sounded like bone this time, but Junsui was too busy gasping to scream. It showed in her eyes, and she touched her head to the ground as Akemi examined the results of her throw. The wall was dented in, and the dragon was on the ground, twitching. Akemi stared at it for a bit, then lifted her foot to step on it's head. Junsui had a kunai to her neck before she could get her foot fully up. She was shaking from the pain, but her hand held steady.

"I'll give you credit." Akemi and Junsui said at the same time. Akemi pushed the kunai away with her hand, causing the ends of her fingers to bleed, and she wiped the blood on Junsui's dress. The weapon was returned to her neck, and she kept wiping the blood, which kept coming. She looked over at the dress, causing a small cut in her neck to start bleeding, and smiled wickedly.

"It's over my ass." Keichi said.

"Just wait. Just because I said it was over doesn't mean it's over now." Shikamaru looked sort of haunted somehow, and Keichi couldn't help but wonder what was so horrible.

Akemi reached behind her and grabbed Junsui's leg from behind, wrenching it forward. In the second she had before the kunai sliced her head off she moved it downward, making it cut off the ends of her bangs instead. She slid from Junsui's grasp, and ignored the dragon as she got distance. She skidded to a stop and made a bunch of unfamiliar hand symbols and she ran back at Junsui. She fell to the floor and let Junsui run over her, and Junsui turned around, furious, when she realized where she was. She was standing directly over a smeared line of Akemi's blood, and Akemi lifted her hand from the ground. It dripped a few more times, and then she tossed some drops in Junsui's general direction.

Akemi smiled and made a sign similar to the tiger, only it had the middle fingers curled around the pointers. She blew into it, and her blood seemed to come alive, immediately sticking to Junsui. The stain on her dress curled up to her neck, and she made gargling sounds like she couldn't breathe. The other blood soon followed suit. Akemi held the position until the ref stepped in. It had been about two minutes, and Junsui had passed out from lack of oxygen.

"The match goes to Akemi." Akemi released the jutsu immediately, and ran over to Junsui. The blood fell onto the floor, puddling underneath them.

"Somebody get a medic!" She yelled, and everyone stood for a second like they were in shock. "Look, you're all acting like you don't know what the damn word means. She's fucking bleeding internally, she might be going into cardiac arrest from shock, not to mention the fact that she probably has a lung with my blood in it. MOVE!"

She commanded the team like she had been in charge the whole time, and Keichi stared down in shock. "She fought her friend...with her own blood...my head hurts." She leaned her elbows on the railing, and put her head in her hands while she tried to think.

"It's not really much for her, but I got kind of worried towards the end." Keichi looked over as Shikamaru mused.

"That she was actually going to kill her?"

"No, that she would give up. She looked almost petrified at the end."

"I didn't see anything." Keichi sighed and stared down at the battlefield as Akemi snatched a roll of bandages as she tied them around her fingers. "Why's she doing that? She's not seriously hurt."

"Hhmm?" Shikamaru had been looking off into the distance. "Oh that. She doesn't like people seeing her blood. I'm not sure why, it's just an issue for her." He looked at her worriedly as she wiped up the blood for the floor, then threw the rag outside, then picked up the dragon and brought it after Junsui's cart and walked with her to the door. She turned right before the doors swung open and placed the dragon next to Junsui, then climbed up the stairs.

"I really hope she gets priority."

"Why?" Keichi inquired, while Shikamaru stayed silent.

"I hit her heart. I'm not sure how, since it's not in the same area at all, but I did." Akemi's tone was heavy, and Shikamaru took her hand. She looked up at him, then across the field, and Gaara was staring back at her, pure hatred in his eyes. She looked away, and the room went quiet for a while as everyone waited for someone else to say something. Everyone's thoughts were all similar.

_Blood!_

_I'd heard she was dangerous but..._

_Is that girl going to be okay?_

_There's got to be something wrong with her..._

_I'm really glad that wasn't me._

_Freak._

_I heard she doesn't have a family._

_Only her foster dad..._

_So that's how she is._

_Her own blood..._

"Stop it." Shikamaru was staring straight at her, and her eyes flew open. "You're not going to get anywhere like that."

Akemi relaxed and looked at her fingers, the only thing that had been hurt. She wiggled them around, and the little bows bounced like they were supposed to. She shifted her weight from one leg to another as she wondered how it was that all she got away with was a self-inflicted injury.

Her leg slid out from under her, and she fell onto the floor. It throbbed a few times, then returned to normal. She tried bending it, and found that she couldn't.

"That fucking dragon!" She cursed under her breath. She ran through the battle in her head, and didn't think of a time that the dragon had contact with her leg or spine, until...

Oh that bitch was going to pay. And hard.

"Akemi?" Shikamaru had come down with her, and he was kneeling next to her.

"I picked up that dragon, I picked it up to fucking HELP it and it temporarily paralyzes my fucking leg." She smacked her leg, then the bar, then stopped. She pulled herself up using her arms and other leg, then leaned on the bar like nothing had happened. She looked at the ref, who was now looking at her strangely. "Please don't make me go home." She said to nobody in particular. Everyone stared for a few more seconds, and then they returned to what they were doing before, choosing to ignore the rather embarrassing event that had just transpired.

"Next match is..."


End file.
